MONTREAL SALSA CONVENTION: MAY 11-15

Posted on April 27th, 2011 by .

The Montreal Salsa Convention is in its 7th year, and no, I’m not talking about the sauce you dip chips into- I’m talking about the sexy Latin dance that’s going to be taking Montreal by storm in early May…

The Montreal Salsa Convention, being held at the Hyatt Regency (and other locations), is the perfect opportunity to hone those salsa skills that you always dreamed you had. You know that dream where you bust into a perfectly choreographed salsa routine at just the right time? Yeah. You know what I’m talking about. Well, hit up a couple of these events and you might be able to turn that dream into a glorious reality.

During the convention, you can go to a workshop taught by a master and then go to one of the open dance parties and show off all your hard work. The five day event showcases performances by Eddie Torres (a man widely known as the Mambo King, but if that’s not enough, he’s a world famous Salsa teacher of the New York style) and you’ll get to see and meet famous instructors and dance to DJs from around the world in Montreal’s beautiful Quartier des Spectacles.

Wednesday, May 11, is the first day of the convention and Club Salsatheque is hosting a free workshop. After, there’s a night of dancing so you can strut your newly-learned stuff. For the gals there’s a ladies styling workshop at Astral on Thursday, taught by the world-famous Ana Masacote, a top international salsa instructor. At 8:30, the qualifications for the Extreme Salsa Competition start but stick around because later there’s a performance by the esteemed Eddie Torres and Griselle Ponce (accomplished choreographer, dancer, teacher, actress and model). After the show there’s more dancing with DJs all night long.

On Friday, May 13, Metropolis is hosting yet another salsa dance party with a live band. But, if you wanna hone your chops, go to the Beginner Salsa Bootcamp at Metropolis from 5pm-7pm, then stay for more dancing to a live band featuring Willy Torres. Saturday features a day of workshops at the Hyatt Regency hotel (from 10am-5:30pm), there’s even a Brazilian Zouk workshop (7:45-8:30pm). Afterwards, Metropolis is hosting a DJ night full of dancing- or you could just stay at the Hyatt for Salsa Madness, which is the official after-party from 2am-5am!

The last day of the convention is also jam-packed. There are several events at both the Hyatt Regency and Astral. From 11am-4:30pm, you can enjoy a salsa workshop, or try the 12pm Zumbathon. Then at 6pm, go see the Rising Stars show case. If you’d like to see top dancers compete, check out the Astral Room for the Extreme Salsa Competition. The winners will be announced at 11:30pm followed by DJ’s and dancing. Eddie Torres will be performing with Griselle Ponce as well as the Puerto Rican Salsa Ambassadors Tito and Tamara and the two-time World Salsa Champion Jhesus Aponte. Go and be prepared to get swept off your feet!

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